The First Superstar

By: Todd MartinDec 18, 2012

Sherdog.com Illustration: Erik Ebeling

Mount Rushmore carries a unique aura of majesty, with the faces of
some of America’s greatest political leaders. However, the landmark
was originally planned as a more down-to-earth tribute to the Wild
West’s most famous figures, and that sort of tradition is more in
line with the rough-and-tumble world of mixed martial arts. The
question then becomes, who would most deserve to be immortalized on
MMA’s Mount Rushmore?

Selecting just four faces for MMA’s Mount Rushmore was not an easy
task. There are so many fighters that have distinguished themselves
in different ways, and key figures have to be omitted. With that
said, this is my best effort to choose a fitting Mount Rushmore for
MMA.

Consideration for the spots included a number of criteria. First
and foremost is fighting accolades. Championships, key wins,
quality of opposition and longevity are all important. Innate
ability is also paramount. Second is influence. Fighters that
altered the course of the sport in one way or another rank ahead of
fighters who achieved excellence without affecting the bigger
picture. Third is stature. The most popular and top drawing
fighters deserve extra credit for that lofty status.

With those criteria in mind, here are the selections for MMA’s
Mount Rushmore:

Arguably the easiest selection, Gracie was the fighter who put the
Ultimate Fighting Championship on the map and taught a
generation of fans what a real fight looks like.

For decades, sports fans debated which athletes were the toughest
and which martial arts were the most effective. Boxers largely were
perceived as the best of the bunch, while the ground game remained
a mystery to the general public. That changed at UFC 1 when Gracie
used Brazilian jiu-jitsu rather than closed punches to conquer
bigger, stronger men.

While Royce was not considered the best fighter of the Gracie
family -- that honor at the time went to brother Rickson -- his
selection as the Gracie representative for the first UFC tournament
made him the family standard bearer to the average fan. His
tournament wins at UFC 1, UFC 2 and UFC 4, particularly a dramatic
submission of Dan Severn at
the close of UFC 4, cemented his status as the biggest star and
most intriguing figure in the early UFC.

The Gracies for decades were devoted to the preservation of the
family mystique. Royce was no different in this regard, and he
carefully protected himself after other fighters started to learn
submission defense. He did not duck formidable competition
altogether, but he did begin to insist on certain rules and lofty
paychecks to return to action. This resulted in making his rare
fights feel more important.

In the early 2000s, the focus of the MMA world shifted from America
to Japan and
Pride Fighting Championships. Perhaps no fighter was more
symbolic of this shift than Royce. His legendary fight with
Kazushi
Sakuraba was probably the most important bout in Pride history,
ushering in six years of strong business success.

By 2006, the balance of power in MMA had shifted again. The UFC was
thriving on pay-per-view, and Gracie followed the wind once more. A
fighter at the center of the early UFC’s success and the heart of
Pride’s boom thrust himself into the middle of the UFC’s
pay-per-view explosion of 2006.

At the time, Matt Hughes
was one of the UFC’s most successful fighters, but he was not a
drawing card. A catchweight bout with Gracie was a perfect
opportunity to turn Hughes into a star. Hughes-Gracie at UFC 60
drew what was at the time the biggest buy rate in Ultimate Fighting
Championship history, and Hughes went on to draw well in future
fights with B.J. Penn and
Georges St.
Pierre.

Upon returning to the UFC, Gracie proclaimed, “I built this house.”
He could have been referring to MMA in general. The sport has of
course evolved well past the point where a fighter can dominate
with one discipline, but it never would have gotten there without
Gracie.